Blueberry Cheesecake

Updated on 16 Feb 2012 – My original blueberry cheesecake recipe has been here since 2010 because it’s one of my family favourites. It’s a great cheesecake recipe, but people usually can’t finish a large slice of it because it’s heavy and can get kind of je lak after a few mouthfuls of it.

I remember being in San Francisco in December 2011 and eating a slice of the Blueberry Cheesecake in Cheesecake Factory and thinking, Why isn’t my cheesecake like this? So flavourful, yet light and not too heavy.

I decided to modify my recipe. It turned out to be fabulous. Literally the best blueberry cheesecake I’ve ever made. I served all my guests a huge slice and everyone finished every morsel. Success!

Try this recipe. This cheesecake is flavourful, not too sweet and soft in texture. I seriously love it.

Leftovers freeze really well. Simply thaw it when you next need a cheesecake treat!

Cover the bowl loosely with cling film wrap or use a microwave oven food cover. Microwave for 30 to 40 seconds at high till butter is melted.

Line the base of a 8 inch (20cm) springform pan with baking paper. Measure a piece large enough for the pan.

Next follow Steps 1 to 6 to cut a circle that will fit the base of the pan nicely.

Step 1 – Fold the baking paper into quarter.
Step 2 – Keep folding paper till you get a slim triangular shape.
Step 3 – Measure the pan with the folded paper from its centre to its sides. Mark the length.
Step 4 – Snip the excess paper off.
Step 5 – Check again to ensure it is half the diameter of the pan.
Step 6 – Open up the paper. It should sit nicely in the pan.

Butter the entire pan and the baking paper.

Use digestive biscuits for the base.

Place 11 to 13 digestive biscuits in a food processor.

Process till they become fine crumbs.

Place the crumbs in a large bowl and add the melted butter.

Stir well to combine.

Place the biscuits-butter mixture in the pan. The pan is glass because the next two pictures were lifted from another recipe while updating this recipe. Keep in mind to use a metal springform pan for this recipe.

Using a potato masher or a large glass with a flat surface, pack the mixture tightly into the pan.

Add the 2 blocks of cream cheese (softened) to a cake mixer. The cream cheese must be very soft, so leave it out of the fridge in a warm place to soften before beating.

Add 1/2 cup sugar.

Add 2 extra large eggs. Total weight should be approximately 130g.

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Add 3 tablespoons of sour cream.

Add 1/3 cup of fresh liquid cream.

Mix at low speed until well combined. Do not over beat as it would generate alot of air pockets in the cake and cause the cake to crack after baking.

Pour the mixture into the prepared springform pan.

Lift the pan and gently knock its base against the table counter top to release as much air as possible. If the air bubbles float up and are trapped at the surface, use a spatula to smoothen the surface and break the air bubbles.

Wrap the pan with aluminium foil and sit the cheese cake pan in a larger roasting pan.

Pour boiling water into the large roasting pan till the water reaches halfway of the cheesecake pan.

Place the pan into the oven for 50 mins. Do NOT open the oven door at any time. Else the cake can end up cracking.

Once cheesecake is done, turn off the oven and leave the cake inside to cool for 1 hour. Do NOT open the oven door.

After the cake has cooled, it would look like this. The cheesecake should look pale and at most very lightly brown on top.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the blueberry topping.

Place 3 tablespoons of blueberry jam in a bowl and whisk it till it’s soft, light and slightly thick.

Spread the jam in an even layer on the cake.

Lay the fresh blueberries on top. My original recipe said to use frozen blueberries. Which are still fine to use. But I used FRESH blueberries in my latest attempt and it tasted even better and fresher. So I highly recommend using fresh blueberries.

(1) Use a springform pan. The kind that has sides that can be released from the base. It’s alot easier to bake a cheesecake with that kind of pan. Or use a disposable baking tray where you can cut and gently peel off the sides later.

(2) Grease the springform pan generously, all over on the inside. And then lay a piece of baking paper as per what is show in this tutorial on the base and grease that baking paper as well.

When the cake is left to cool slowly in the oven. It would shrink and gently pull away from the sides. If not, then dip a sharp large knife in boiling water for a few seconds. Wipe it dry with a clean cloth, then run the blade around the sides of the cake. Then try to remove it again.

Oh! Haha.. I usually serve the cheesecake with the base pan as well. My base pan is silver and it looks alright on a white plate.

If I’m bring it to a party and need to lift the whole cake up, I slide a long offset spatula or a long thin knife under the baking paper to loosen it. If the cake has been chilled, heat the spatula/knife in boiling water and then wipe dry before using it. Then I use a round cake board and slide it gently under the cake till it’s transferred from the pan to the cake board. I usually leave the baking paper under the cake. It’s easier when I cut the cake to push each cut slice out when the baking paper is still at the bottom. If you want to remove the baking paper as well, slide your hot knife under the cake instead of the paper.

Ahh..so I see. Mine is a black springform pan and i’m abit paranoid that if i cut on it, it will leave marks.
I google for some answers last night-while still feeling the heartache for my ruined cake. Some suggested using a piece of baking paper to flip the cake over and then back onto a cake plate. U think its workable?!

Erm another qn for u, U wrote that we have to wrap the cake in Al foil, placed in a pan of hot water to bake. Wouldn’t water seep thru it? I thought my cake base looks abit wet along the edges when I took it out.

What happen to my cake? Hmm… I shall not go into the details. My name can be seen here! :p Just imagine:

Hi Yin Zu, if my suggestion sounds weird to you.. take it that I must be alot older than you are or I have the mentality of a 70 year old. =) But really, don’t be afraid to destroy a pan. Even if you get scratches, it’s okay because you almost never bake raw in a springform pan. It’s always buttered. I have a springform pan that is specially for cheesecake only and I always have a sheet of baking paper on it when I bake so I don’t care about the scratches. So yeah, take it from me. Ruin that pan! Haha!

I’ve read about the cake flipping but I personally would never flip a cheesecake over. It’s a 50-50 chance and I can’t afford the risk after all that effort to bake that cake. Unless your cheesecake was really cold and rock hard, you could squash the top and destroy the sides. And if the cake was really hard, chances are it’s dry already and the baking paper is sticking tight to the pan because the butter base has solidified in the cold and it’ll be alot to manage.

The best method for me is still serve the cake still on the bottom base. When you cut, remember to use a very hot knife. Once you slice, go straight down and press into the crust hard. You don’t actually glide the blade along the base much.

If water seeped through, then you didn’t wrap the foil well around the pan or it was too thin. Double or triple wrap and make sure you press the foil as tightly as you can to the sides of the pan. I triple wrap my pan and never get any water in.

I have a cheesecake baking in my oven as I type this. What a coincidence! =)

Alternatively, if it all bothers you too much, make cheesecake in cupcake tins and cupcake paper cups and you have mini cheesecakes and don’t have to worry about flipping or cutting. Just watch the cakes as they cook in the oven. They’ll cook faster, and when the tops are lightly brown. Turn off the oven and let them cool in the oven.

Hi Shirley, the temperature is at the first line of instructions in the recipe. And yes, it’s always both top and bottom heat (and fan-forced if you have it) when you bake unless recipe specifies otherwise.

Hi Bing,thanks for sharing your receipe. Love it with its step-by-step pictures. Some questions:
1) How long can I keep the cheesecake? The blueberry jam topped turned watery at the end of the 1st day.
2) How to make the biscuit crust an even layer? I did use the masher but it turned out higher and lower at different parts.
3) Some parts of the biscuit crust cracked. Is it due to lack of butter or not packing the crust tight enough when pressing it down on the pan?

(1) I keep the cheesecake chilled in fridge for up to 4 days and in freezer for up to 2 weeks. It usually doesn’t last so long coz everyone would have eaten it up. If your jam became watery, it could be that you have beaten it too much such that it has become too thin in texture. Or it wasn’t chilled enough. Jam is always thick and sticky when chilled. Never runny.

(2) Try pushing the crumbs around evenly when you press them into the pan.

(3) Yes, if u don’t use enough butter or compress the crumbs tight enough, the crust will crack. The crust should be slightly damp when pressed into the pan.

Hi Bing,
I wish to tell u that i have tried your blueberry cheesecake. It turned out very well and delicious.
I cut the sugar to half as i do not like sweet taste:)
Thanks for the recipe and step by step instructions. Its very useful.
stay well:)